Well, here’s some nice fellow, who doesn’t know that the United States is BOTH a “democracy” and a “republic.” The statements are not in opposition to each other, but relate to different aspects of government,

DEMOCRACY: Comes from the Greek demos = people, and kratia = rule of. So, democracy is the rule of the people and relates to where sovereignty is vested. Democracy is for example opposed to plutocracy, where sovereignty is vested in the rich, or theocracy, where sovereignty is vested in religious functionaries, or oligarchy, or other various and sundry possibilities. But sovereignty needs to be vested somewhere, and this fellow seems to be quite uniformed, when he asserts that the United States is not a democracy.

REPUBLIC: Comes from the Latin, rei = rule of, and publicae = people. This distinguishes an hereditary from a non-hereditary succession to government office. The United States, Russia, Iran, and Angola, China, and Taiwan for example, are republics, while the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium, are not republics because they are monarchies and have hereditary succession of rulers.

I won’t comment on the remainder of the assertions by this fellow except to suggest that no one should bet the farm on his understanding of political science. [link]

He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, and is probably more of an expert in political science than I. But, thanks to online resources like Wikipedia, I can educate myself and, at least, seem a little smarter than I really am.

The word “democracy” does not appear in the US Constitution. It does not appear in the Declaration of Independence.

Democracy is majority rule… in its simplest form 50% + 1.

A Republic, is defined as “a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people, and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government’s power over citizens.”

John Adams, (founding father, second US president, co-framer of our constitution) defined “democracy” as the “tyranny of the majority.”

He wanted an “empire of laws, not of men” to protect the individual and minorities. He advocated separation of powers (the now-familiar executive, legislative, and judicial branches) with these checks and balances as a means to limit the government’s power over its citizens.

Towards the end of his life John Adams declared, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide.“

Why Do They Keep Telling Us We Have Democracy?
Are our representatives really that ignorant? Is the president? (OK, better not to answer that…) Or, could it be that’s the form of government their superiors (the Shadow Powers) want?

Then consider this from a pamphlet titled “Democracy or Republic, Which Is It?” by Benedict LaRosa:“Democracy concentrates power into the hands of the few organized and clever enough to manipulate the masses. It is characterized by a communistic attitude toward property and monopolistic enterprises. Government thus becomes an instrument for the redistribution of wealth as well as the security of the state.It is the rule of men, the dictatorship of the majoritywithout regard to the consequences upon individuals or society.” [link]

This sure sounds like what’s happened to us in the US in the last fifty years.

How to Replace Our Republic with Mob Rule (“Democracy”)
Don’t these look like the steps the Shadow Powers have taken over the last few decades? Aren’t they even now accelerating their plans?

1) Destroy the constitution.“The Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper.” G.W. Bush. [link]

2) Control the education system (to prevent an informed citizenry).

3) Centralize power in one branch of government (the executive).Notice how the number of “executive orders” and “signing statements” has exploded? [link] Clinton launched the Kosovo war on an executive order.

4) Install an easily-manipulated figurehead as head of the executive branch (President Bush)Will Obama be different? So far, it doesn’t look like it.

5) Advocate gun control so the populace cannot defend themselves from tyranny. [link]Remember how the gov’t illegally confiscated citizen’s firearms door-to-door in New Orleans? Watch them tackle and slug a retired woman to get her gun. [YouTube]

Great Quotes:“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”– Ben Franklin

“… the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.” – Ales Carey

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”– Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
– Thomas Jefferson

“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”– Gore Vidal

“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
H. L. Mencken in The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920

and the best one:“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.
It can only exist until voters discover they can vote themselves generous benefits from the public treasury. From that moment, the majority always votes for candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”
– Alexander Tytler, The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic

Option 2:Coercion (the United States’ method of shaping the desires of the populace through rampant marketing, education control, greed, and sufficient entertainment (TV, movies, sports) to distract the masses from creeping socialism and slavery. Oh, and don’t forget the occasional injection of fear. It keeps the masses shouting for the chance to exchange a little more libertty for (supposed) security.

We know how well option 1 worked by Dec 1991 with the ending of the USSR after 69 years. So far, option 2 seems to be working well enough for the Shadow Powers. “No slave is more oppressed than one who thinks he’s free.”

Are We Free?
We are constantly reminded by our politicians that “we live in a free country”, or as GWB says:
“They hate us for our freedoms.”
“Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward.”
“Freedom will be defended.”
“I believe that a free Iraq is in this nation’s interests. I believe a free Afghanistan is in this nation’s interest.”
“I sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free.”
“Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.”
“The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom.“

Do we have weapons of mass destruction?
The US has 5,043 active nuclear weapons with around 5,000 inactive weapons. More than all other nations put together. [link] We also have a full complement of chemical and biological weapons as well. (Remember the NY Antrax Attacks after 9/11? It was our own weaponized anthrax used against us.)

Do we attack other countries?
On Sept. 20, 2002 the Bush Doctrine declared “the controversial policy of preventive war, which held that the United States should depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate; a policy of spreading democracy around the world, especially in the Middle East, as a strategy for combating terrorism; and a willingness to pursue U.S. military interests in a unilateral way.”

In just the last decade the US has attacked these countries without direct provocation, or attempted to depose their leader [link and link]:Aug 1998: AfghanistanAug 1998: Sudan Operation Infinite ReachDec 1998: Iraq Operation Desert FoxOct 2001: AfghanistanOperation Enduring FreedomApr 2002: VenezuelaCIA OpMar 2003: IraqOperation Iraqi Freedom2004: Georgia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea War on Terror2006-08: Pakistan War on TerrorJan 2007: Somalia War on Terror

For a list of all the regimes changed by the US Gov’t since the first (1911 Nicaragua) see Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change. From the book: “No nation in modern history has done this so often, in so many places so far from its own shores.”

Are we a peaceful nation?
This is a judgement call. IMO we the people of the US are, like most around the world, peaceful by nature. It is our government that wants war, and will lie to get it.
– Think of FDR’s sacrifice of Pearl Harbor as our entry into WWII. [video]
– Think of LBJ’s fabricated Gulf of Tonkin incident as our entry into the Viet Nam War.
– Think of GWB’s falsified WMD evidence as our entry into the Iraq War.

According to Bush’s above litmus test for freedom, we ain’t. Sure, it’s not what he meant, not really. Right?

What about elections?
Don’t even get me started on election fraud in the US. In the words of one of last century’s foremost dictators, “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” Josef Stalin

But, at least, we have freedom to choose, don’t we? Do we? When was the presidential election that you DIDN’T feel like you were voting for the “lesser of two evils”? (Which, of course, is still a vote for evil.)

Who chooses the two candidates from whom you will choose? Who engineers the amazing comebacks (GWB), the sudden shocking revelations (Gary Hart), the opportune video moments (Howard Dean), the mainstream ridicule and poll manipulation (Ron Paul)?

Remember FDR’s words: “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

When the Shadow Powers determine the choices available to us they control us. Sure it’s subtle. You bet it’s effective. And we all think we’re free.

I say, “Liberty is not a multiple-choice test. It is an essay.”

We Haven’t Lost-Yet
But now, as they attempt to remake the planet into a “New World Order” under the guise of “fixing” a worldwide economic collapse, they have become vulnerable.

If enough of us “wake up” from the Matrix reality we can change our destiny. As the 2008-2009 collapse widens in depth and scope the chance to snatch freedom and liberty will arise.

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, ALWAYS.” Gandhi

No Bust, No Joy: but we got almost half-way there! We’ll try again starting Feb 2009.

Link to all Vaporize COMEX posts:

COMEX trades hundreds of times more gold & silver than they actually possess. If enough investors demand delivery of PHYSICAL gold & silver COMEX stockpiles will be depleted. If COMEX runs out, the ensuing rush to grab physical metal to settle contract obligations *could* be the spark that ignites the long-awaited precious metals wildfire.

Explanation:
COMEX warehouses contain both “registered” and “eligible” metals. The “registered” metals are available for physical delivery. The “eligible” metals are not ready for delivery until they become “registered.” Although this pool of “eligible” metals is stored at COMEX warehouses there is no obligation to “register” these metals for subsequent physical deliveries.

The graph shows:
1) the cumulative ounces of metal delivery notices this month,
2) the ounces of “registered” metal available for delivery,
The percentage shown is based on the cumulative physical metal delivery notices for the month against the “registered” amount of metal in COMEX.“Eligible” metal inventories are not shown as they do not have a direct bearing on the inventory depletion ratio.

COMEX trades hundreds of times more gold & silver than they actually possess. If enough investors demand delivery of PHYSICAL gold & silver COMEX stockpiles will be depleted. If COMEX runs out, the ensuing rush to grab physical metal to settle contract obligations *could* be the spark that ignites the long-awaited precious metals wildfire.

Explanation:
COMEX warehouses contain both “registered” and “eligible” metals. The “registered” metals are available for physical delivery. The “eligible” metals are not ready for delivery until they become “registered.” Although this pool of “eligible” metals is stored at COMEX warehouses there is no obligation to “register” these metals for subsequent physical deliveries.

The graph shows:
1) the cumulative ounces of metal delivery notices this month,
2) the ounces of “registered” metal available for delivery,
The percentage shown is based on the cumulative physical metal delivery notices for the month against the “registered” amount of metal in COMEX.“Eligible” metal inventories are not shown as they do not have a direct bearing on the inventory depletion ratio.

Tuesday Dec 30 was the last day to vaporize COMEX for December delivery. It didn’t happen. Our next chance will be Feb 2009 (and, yes, I plan to post Feb COMEX charts).

Stealing Gold from the ETFs
As if there isn’t already enough to make you nervous about whether or not the gold & silver ETFs (“GLD” and “SLV”) are safe (read “solvent” and really holding the metal they claim to be holding), now comes the possibility the government could confiscate precious metals held in ETFs. [more]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, was quoted in Focus magazine telling her Cabinet the following joke: “What’s the difference between Communism and Capitalism? Answer: The Communists nationalised all the companies first — and then ruined them.”